The best TV shows this week PLUS TRAILER

Stuart Chandler

The listings have been scoured and here's the pick of what to watch from Saturday September 22.

Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One, Saturday, 6.15pm

Get ready to staaaaart dancing! Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman present NTA and Bafta award-winning Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.
Tonight’s show brings us the first live episode in what promises to be a spectacular series.

Since the glamourous launch show where the pairings were revealed, the celebrities and their professional partners have had two weeks to rehearse their first routine. Tonight, the 15 couples take to the Strictly ballroom to perform live in front of the fabulous four judges: Dame Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Head Judge Shirley Ballas.

The judges will score each couple for the first time, but luckily there will be no farewells this week.

Instead, their scores will be carried over to next weekend, when the viewers get the chance to vote for their favourite couple.

Karl Pilkington is in new comedy Sick Of It.

At the halfway stage of the competition and now a Strictly Come Dancing tradition, the show will travel to the international home of ballroom dancing where the celebrities and their partners will perform at the world famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

Zoë Ball will also return to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. The weekday show is back with even more exclusive access and backstage gossip than ever before.

Finally, there will be exclusive behind-the-scenes action available on the official Strictly website at bbc.co.uk/strictly and across social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

And this series for the first time the show is collaborating with BBC Three who will be creating exciting additional content across their digital platforms.

The disturbing history of The Flu That Killed 50 Million

There will also be even more Strictly news to enjoy via the official Strictly Come Dancing podcast.

Sick Of It, Thursday, Sky One & NOW TV, 9pm

Guess what. Karl Pilkington is back on Sky One, this time with his first scripted comedy drama.

In the series, co-created and co-written with Richard Yee, Karl plays Karl, a crotchety cabbie who’s living with his Auntie Norma while trying to get over the loss of his long-term girlfriend. As he muddles through life, his closest mate is the voice in his head, an uncensored version of himself who just won’t shut up. He imparts his wisdom, deals out criticism and shares his rather unorthodox philosophy on life – counsel that often lands

Bodyguard reaches its conclusion.

Karl in trouble. In episode one, Karl and Norma are holding a wake at the house. So what better time for a delivery man to rock up with the new sofa? Karl needs to get shot of the old one fast. But when he puts an ad online, he’s given the runaround by Neil (Line of Duty’s Craig Parkinson), a chancer who leads him further and further away from his uncle’s funeral.

Karl told us: “I thought I’d had enough of telly. I’d bought my house and once I got it paid for I thought, well that’s all we’re working for. But after having a bit of time off, I just got bored. After doing all the travel stuff for God knows how long, I’d had enough of hanging around airports and feeling jetlagged. But then I met up with Richard. He directed some of the trips in An Idiot Abroad and The Moaning of Life and he asked me if I wanted to have a go at writing something. And we sat down and chatted about the programmes I liked and it just sort of went from there. It was just something to do.”

The Flu That Killed 50 Million, Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

1918. As the Armistice bells rang out across the world to celebrate the end of World War One, a silent killer made its way home with the soldiers - Spanish Flu.

This devastating global pandemic infected up to a third of the world’s population and killed more than 50 million people. Now, using compelling eyewitness testimonies from doctors, soldiers, civilians and politicians, and aided by dramatic reconstructions, this one-off special brings to life the terrifying onslaught of the disease, the horror for those who lived through it, and the hope of the pioneering scientists who desperately sought for a cure.

Co-produced with Wellcome, The Flu That Killed 50 Million uncovers new and previously unseen archive material, and, in telling the dramatic story of the Spanish Flu in 1918, provides insight into how we might prevent and respond to future outbreaks. Narrated by Christopher Eccleston, Jeremy Edwards (Holby City) plays Dr Basil Hood of the St Marylebone Infirmary.

More magical drama in A Discovery Of Witches.

Bodyguard, BBC One, Sunday, 9pm

Extended 75-minute finale.David Budd has made a major breakthrough in the investigation into the attack on the Home Secretary but his enquiries have put him in mortal danger. With the clock ticking and no one left who believes him, David attempts to prove his innocence.

A Discovery Of Witches, Sky One & NOW TV, Friday, 9pm

An alarming package is slipped under Diana’s door. Its contents force her to resummon the manuscript. But when she arrives at the Bodleian, she soon realises she isn’t alone. Ignoring Miriam’s warning about the covenant, Matthew allows his relationship with Diana to move forward.

New Order Night, Sky Arts & NOW TV, Saturday, From 9pm

First up is New Order: Decades, a documentary that follows the band’s preparations in the staging of their acclaimed collaboration So It Goes that captured the headlines during the Manchester International Festival 2017. This is followed at 11pm by New Order: Live in Glasgow in October 2006

2018 Ryder Cup, Sky Sports Ryder Cup – LIVE. Friday From 6.30am

The biggest event in golf – arguably one of the biggest in world sport – arrives as the 2018 Ryder Cup tees off at Le Golf National in Paris. Team USA enter the event as favourites – filled with brash, confident players like Patrick Reed, and a rejuvenated Tiger Woods. But don’t discount the Europeans.

Instinct Sky Witness & NOW TV, Thursday, 9pm

Dylan and Julian go undercover this week in a hospital when they suspect an “angel of death” is killing people with non-life-threatening ailments. Also, Lizzie asks Andy for his legal expertise when a personal trainer sues her for accidentally injuring him.